Animal Health Company To Open Plant In St. Joseph

A company that handles animal medicines plans to open a missive new warehouse and packaging plant in St. Joseph next week.

Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica Inc. will open its $28.7 million plant next Wednesday. It's about the size of four football fields, and eventually will have 150 employees.

The Kansas City Star reports (http://bit.ly/1rnQKWN ) Boehringer will package, handle and distribute animal vaccines and medicines for shipment to more than 50 countries. The products are used to prevent and treat disease in the swine, cattle, equine and pet markets.

Boehringer, with U.S. headquarters in St. Joseph, said the plant could be expanded by about 100,000 square feet for manufacturing. The company also has operations in Ames, Fort Dodge and Sioux Center, Iowa. It is a division of a Germany-based company.